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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 272 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 272

 Recognizing and honoring the life and achievements of Constance Baker 
Motley, a judge for the United States District Court, Southern District 
                              of New York.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

              October 7 (legislative day, October 6), 2005

  Mr. Schumer (for himself, Mr. Specter, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama, Mr. 
Bayh, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Pryor, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Wyden, Mr. DeWine, Mr. 
Harkin, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Leahy, 
  Mr. Hatch, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Coleman, Mr. 
 Hagel, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Lieberman, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Reid, and Mr. 
  Kerry) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
                               agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Recognizing and honoring the life and achievements of Constance Baker 
Motley, a judge for the United States District Court, Southern District 
                              of New York.

Whereas Constance Baker Motley was born in 1921, in New Haven, Connecticut, the 
        daughter of immigrants from the Caribbean island of Nevis;
Whereas in 1943, Constance Baker Motley graduated from New York University with 
        a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics;
Whereas, upon receiving a law degree from Columbia University in 1946, Constance 
        Baker Motley became a staff attorney at the National Association for the 
        Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., 
        and fought tirelessly for 2 decades alongside Thurgood Marshall and 
        other leading civil rights lawyers to dismantle segregation throughout 
        the country;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley was the only female attorney on the legal team 
        that won the landmark desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley argued 10 major civil rights cases before the 
        Supreme Court, winning all but one, including the case brought on behalf 
        of James Meredith challenging the University of Mississippi's refusal to 
        admit him;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley's only loss before the United States Supreme 
        Court was in Swain v. Alabama, a case in which the Court refused to 
        proscribe race-based peremptory challenges in cases involving African-
        American defendants and which was later reversed in Batson v. Kentucky 
        on grounds that had been largely asserted by Constance Baker Motley in 
        the Swain case;
Whereas in 1964, Constance Baker Motley became the first African-American woman 
        elected to the New York State Senate;
Whereas in 1965, Constance Baker Motley became the first African-American woman, 
        and the first woman, to serve as president of the Borough of Manhattan;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley, in her capacity as an elected public official in 
        New York, continued to fight for civil rights, dedicating herself to the 
        revitalization of the inner city and improvement of urban public schools 
        and housing;
Whereas in 1966, Constance Baker Motley was appointed by President Johnson as a 
        United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New 
        York;
Whereas the appointment of Constance Baker Motley made her the first African-
        American woman, and only the fifth woman, appointed and confirmed for a 
        Federal judgeship;
Whereas in 1982, Constance Baker Motley was elevated to Chief Judge of the 
        United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the 
        largest Federal trial court in the United States;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley assumed senior status in 1986, and continued 
        serving with distinction for the next 2 decades; and
Whereas Constance Baker Motley passed away on September 28, 2005, and is 
        survived by her husband Joel Wilson Motley Jr., their son, Joel Motley 
        III, her 3 grandchildren, her brother, Edmund Baker of Florida, and her 
        sisters Edna Carnegie, Eunice Royster, and Marian Green, of New Haven, 
        Connecticut: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) extends its heartfelt sympathy to the family and 
        friends of Constance Baker Motley on the occasion of her 
        passing; and
            (2) commends Constance Baker Motley for--
                    (A) her 39-year tenure on the United States 
                District Court for the Southern District of New York; 
                and
                    (B) her lifelong commitment to the advancement of 
                civil rights and social justice.
                                 <all>
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